Car-seal



(No Model.) 4

T. SAUNDERS.

GAR SEAL.

No. 406,113. Patented July 2, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

THEODORE SAUNDERS, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

CAR-SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,113, dated July 2, 1889.

Application filed August 16, 1888. Serial No. 282,904. (No model.)

"To all 1071,0112, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE SAUNDERS, a citizen of the United States, residing atDanbury, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Seals; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in seals, and especially those used to seal freight railway-cars, and has for its object to provide a device of this description which shall be cheap and simple of construction and when applied incapable of being removed without its total destruction.

\Vith these ends in View my invention consists in the details of construction and combination. of element-s hereinafter set forth, and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invent-ion appertains may fully understand how to make and use the sa1ne,I will proceed to describe its construction and operation in detail, referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of my improvement; Fig. 2, a central vertical section of the same, illustrating its appearance after displacement of the wires.

Prior to my invention considerable difficulty has been experienced in theuse of seals of this description on account of the ease with which they could be removed from their wires and then replaced without damage suflicient to enable detection by casual inspection, thus admitting of unlawful tampering with articles secured by said seals; or, in case safety-seals were used, much time was consumed in applying them. I obviate these diffculties as follows:

A represents the seal, cast or otherwise formed of lead or similar material and provided with a vertical passage B, through which the ends of the looped wire C maybe readily passed, as shown.

D is an opening formed in the body of the seal and intersecting the passage B at right angles.

'lo seal a car or other receptacle, it is only necessary to engage the looped wire C with the staple after the hasp has been closed thereon, then pass the free ends of said wire through the seal, and, finally, by the use of a suitable punch upset the wire at a, as clearly shown.

I have not deemed it necessary to show or describe in this present application a punch for applying my seal, as such a device forms no part of my present improvement, and moreover is embodied in an application of even date herewith.

It will be seen that if an attempt be made to force the seal off the wire the portion a, being out of line with the passage B, will out said seal in such manner that it would be impossible to replace it so as to prevent detection by the most casual observation.

I am aware that lead seals have heretofore been provided with a single diametric hole for the reception of the two ends of the wire; but so far as my knowledge extends none such have been provided with the central opening at which the two portions of the wire are crimped, and hence said prior seals have necessarily had additional holes for separately oh the wire at or near the top edge of the seal and to then conceal the broken end within the lead. Seals have, however, been heretofore constructed with reference to the use of a concealed twisting of the wire; but in them two holes for the wire are provided at the top edge of the seal and these merge into one hole at the bottom edge; but they have had no central opening whereat the wire can be crimped or bent at right angles to the face of the seal. It is obviously of consequence to provide for prompt and easy wiring, and I have for the first time provided for centrally crimping or bending the wire in a seal through ISO which both ends of the wire can be passed at once, as distinguished from the prior seals mentioned, with which each end of the wire must be either singly entered into a hole of its own, or, if both ends are initially entered as one wire each end must then be retnrnedinto 'a separate hole of its own.

Having thus described my ll1VGl1tlO1l,W1lti3I claim as new and useful is- A ear-seal having a single diametric passage from edge to edge for the reception of both ends of the sealing-wire, and a central opening at which both portions of the wire maybe 

